His Naughty Lessons-Chapter 299: Soul to Soul

** Harper **

When he obliged with a laugh, climbing onto the mattress and scooping her to the center of the bed alongside him, Harper could feel her heart rate picking up speed once more, the flutter against her chest thrumming like a thrilled little bird beating its wings, ready to take flight.

Not that it was new to be this close to him. Not that the fold-up bed was anything luxurious, or that the room was filled with a romantic sea of flowers like their first night together. But her head reeled all the same, and despite everything feeling so simple and familiar and right, it was also so very special at the same time, because of the life-changing promise they had just made to each other under the stars.

Even his kiss felt so special when he leaned over her, caressing her lips with feathery brushes of his own. So sweet and lingering, full of loving tenderness like everything else on this magical night.

Draping her arms around his shoulders, Harper pulled him closer, sighing softly into his mouth as they deepened the slow dance. The scent and taste of him couldn’t be any more familiar at this point, and as she savored them, chasing the mesmerizing hint of ocean breeze that blended in with the subtle hint of summer flowers and pines and evening dew, she etched that sensation once and once again into her memory, along with every passing second of the beautiful reminders that it came with.

She knew he was doing the same when the tip of his tongue brushed ever so softly over hers. When the palm of his hand grazed over her waist, carefully lifting the hem of her shirt, drawing small and light circles on her lower back. The touch was so gentle, almost innocent in the way he moved, as if he was lost in this moment of pure heartfelt affection as well, tracing the feel of it and simply letting it last the way it was.

Harper smiled against his lips. Well, on any normal day, she usually wasn’t the patient one willing to go slow like this. But tonight, under the spell of the stars and the magic of the ring on her finger, she was absolutely content with just kissing him for the rest of eternity. And so she did. Her own hand glided down to slip beneath the bottom of his tshirt, and she caressed him the same way he did her, mapping soft and tender touches across the hard plane of his abs.

The comfortable moment stretched on, seconds turning into minutes, minutes turning into ... however long it was that she lost track of, until Eli slowly started to retreat. Pulling back from the kiss, he inched toward the corner of her lips, feathering warm pecks along her jaw.

Oh. Guess they couldn’t simply take it slow forever.

"Eli." Harper pressed her hand into those hard abs, pushing slightly against his motion. "Stay here ..." Cupping his cheek with her other palm, she nudged him back to where he was, capturing his lips again with her own. "I want you here like this. I want you to keep kissing me ... and let me feel all those things we aren’t saying out loud through your lips."

He paused, though only for a split second to pull back and look into her eyes. His gaze was so soft and warm that for a moment, she thought she might melt into a puddle at a mere glance of it. "As you wish, my love," he whispered with a smile before sealing their lips together once more, just the way she wanted.

Sighing in contentment into his mouth, Harper took over the work she had stopped him from. Both of her hands slipped down to tug on his shirt, his shorts, and then her own. It took a little time to do it with minimal breaks between kisses, but she managed, and she sighed in an utterly different type of contentment once more as he pressed down on her, skin to skin, with no more barriers in between.

"Harper ..." His hand reached for hers, lacing their fingers together as he pressed them against the pillow, holding her tightly. "I love you ... the sun and the stars of my life."

With that, he glided forward, slipping effortlessly inside.

Harper’s soft moan was muffled between their lips, but she felt how the moment affected them both, from the tightening of their held hands and the catch in his breath that matched her own. Her heartbeat faltered once more as she clasped her fingers firmly around his, intertwining their hands as deeply as their bodies.

"I love you too, even though I’m getting too lightheaded to be poetic." She chuckled softly, threading her other hand into his hair. "But I love you, Eli. Always and always."

The words felt surreal as they left her lips, drifting dreamingly in the air. The two of them weren’t the type of people to say that magic line to each other all the time, but at this moment, it felt as if those three words were the only right ones that fully captured the simple feeling in their hearts. It felt as if with every breath and every touch and every promise, they had finally peeled away all the layers and gotten to the single essence that connected them, body to body and soul to soul.

Harper kissed him deeper as she lifted her hips, wrapping her legs around his back and bringing him deeper. No more words could describe the perfection she was feeling at this moment. No more words could befit the surreality of feeling so full of each other and so close to each other, so intimately that it was like their souls were embracing.

For the third time tonight, her eyes grew misty with pure joy. She treasured that feeling too, and she let it stay as he kissed her, made love to her, taking her slowly yet surely with him to that land of paradise.